How to Use Copilot to Read and Summarize PDFs
- Graziano Stefanelli
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
Microsoft Copilot now helps users read and summarize PDFs across Windows, macOS, and OneDrive.
On Windows, Copilot’s new File Search and Vision features let you find and analyze PDF content quickly.
OneDrive integration allows users to summarize single or multiple PDFs without opening them.
The Copilot app for macOS supports uploading PDFs for quick summaries and Q&A.
Limitations like scanned PDFs and Edge compatibility exist, but workarounds such as OCR and settings tweaks can help.
1. Copilot Gets Smarter on Windows: File Search and Vision
Earlier this April, Microsoft began rolling out two powerful features for the Copilot app on Windows—File Search and Copilot Vision. These updates are a game changer, especially for users dealing with large volumes of documents.
File Search: You can now ask Copilot to find and access files on your device, including PDFs. Whether it’s a contract, a research file, or a presentation in .pdf format, Copilot can pull it up and even answer questions about its contents—without you manually opening it.
Copilot Vision: This feature lets you share any app or browser window with Copilot. Want insights on a PDF opened in your browser? Just share the window and Copilot will analyze it in real time, giving you summaries, explanations, or even rewriting text based on your prompts.
These capabilities are gradually rolling out to Windows Insiders globally, with full availability expected later this year.
2. Smart Summaries with Copilot in OneDrive
Managing PDFs in the cloud just got easier. Microsoft has integrated Copilot into OneDrive, allowing users to summarize documents without even opening them. You can select one or multiple PDFs, click on “Summarize,” and get a concise breakdown of the content.
You can also ask follow-up questions to dive deeper into specific parts of the file—perfect for research, document reviews, or catching up on meeting minutes.
Supported file types include PDFs, Word docs, PowerPoint decks, and Excel files.
3. Mac Users Rejoice: Copilot App Lands on macOS
In February 2025, Microsoft launched a dedicated Copilot app for macOS. It allows users to upload PDFs and receive quick summaries or insights through natural language queries. While full document summarization for macOS is still being rolled out, the current functionality already saves hours of reading and skimming.
4. Known Challenges (and Fixes)
Like any powerful tool, Copilot has its quirks. Here are a few known limitations and workarounds...
Scanned PDFs: Copilot struggles with scanned documents that contain non-selectable text. To work around this, users can run such files through OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software before using Copilot to summarize them.
Microsoft Edge Compatibility: Some users have reported issues with Copilot not functioning as expected within Microsoft Edge, particularly when using Adobe’s integrated PDF viewer. If you're facing this, disabling the new viewer in Edge’s settings often restores Copilot's reading capabilities.
5. Real-World Use Case: From Clutter to Clarity
Imagine you're prepping for a project review and have five PDF reports to get through. Instead of opening each one and reading page by page, you upload them to OneDrive or open them on Windows, prompt Copilot to summarize each, and even ask questions like...
“What’s the main takeaway from this report?”
“List all action items mentioned in this document.”
“What are the financial highlights from Q4?”
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